New Covenant
by Agon Dy
Summary: When the sons of Ipswitch meet the Daughter of Gaia, a new covenant shall be formed, and again the world shall be saved... again from one of their own. Hiatus because of writer's block.
1. Chapter 1

Willow sighed when she saw the lights on at her house. Xander and she had been out with Buffy at the Bronze and it was now close to midnight. If her parents were home, then she was about to get in some major trouble.

Xander glanced at the light and then down to his watch. "Wills, its only 11:47. Your 'rents can't be too mad at you. You're a senior in high school for Pete's sake!"

"Yes, I'm a quarter of the way through my senior year, but my parents still think I'm in middle school. I believe the last time they were here; I was told that my curfew was nine sharp. I'm going to be in so much trouble Xander. What am I going to do? If they ground me I can't help Buffy or you with patrolling, and I won't get to see anymore of Oz's concerts, and I can't help Giles with late night research cuz computer privileges get taken away, and-"

"Shhhh. Calm down." Xander soothed as he gave her a one armed hug. "Remember all that power you got when you turned 18 a month ago?" he continued when she nodded. "Well, call up that power and use it to fight back the darkness of ignorance!"

Willow giggled and then froze, her eyes on the figure standing on her porch. Xander turned and did the same as her mother opened the door and invited the figure in. The Scooby gang had slayed enough vampires over the three years since Buffy had come for all of them to sense one, and the two friends were convinced that the figure wasn't entirely human. With a look of panic across both their faces, Xander and Willow ran toward the house as a woman was sent flying out of the front door. Willow ran to the woman and dropped beside her, pulling the woman's head into her lap. "Mother…"

Xander growled and charged toward the open door and the figure that no longer resembled a human that stood just inside. "Xander!" Willow screamed as he was batted carelessly aside and smashed through the support beam for the porch.

"Willow…" she heard faintly and looked down, even as she began to gather her power inside. She noticed the large gash running along her mother's side and moved her hand over it without a second thought. As she pushed her magic out to heal the wound, she was surprised to feel a resistance.

"Willow…" her mother called again. Willow looked at her again and her throat chocked up at the love she saw in her mother's eyes. "Ask Ira…Sons of…Ipswich…Daughter of…Gaia. Fill…what was…told before. And…to you…I give…everything…" A streak of pure energy crashed down on top of her and she was raised into the air. Lightening surrounded her in a cocoon as she was bestowed with all the power her mother had held.

When the lightening receded, Xander, Ira, and the creature saw that Willow hung suspended five feet in the air, her head had fallen back, and her hair had turned completely silver. Suddenly, Willow's neck strained as she pulled her head forward. Her eyes snapped open to reveal inky black depths. She focused on the creature who had destroyed her mother and, almost quicker than the eye could see, her right arm shot out parallel to the ground. A ball of pure power formed in the witch's outstretched palm. "Die." Willow told the being in a voice which was filled with enough raw power to make both Xander and Ira tremble and the creature quake in fear before sweeping her arm in front of herself and releasing the ball of energy.

The ball flew toward the creature and hit it in the chest before growing and consuming the creature, collapsing in on itself and back into the darkness that created it. Willow kept her eyes on the spot where the creature had been as she slowly floated down. As she landed, the darkness in her eyes retreated- returning her eye color to its natural green- and she collapsed into a different type of darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Again... I own nothing but the idea.

Chapter 2

"Are you sure you'll be ok, Willow?" Ira asked when she got out of the car in front of the Academy. She looked at the large church-like building and then back to him. Since she found out that her mother had actually died when she was young and that Sheila and Ira were only friends of the family, she had searched for almost three months to find out where her origins were rooted.

Willow traced her mother's name, Sarah, to an old New England town of Ipswich. After she thought about it, the name made sense as the Sons would most likely be located nearby, and she need to go there eventually anyway. She turned to Ira who was still in the car looking at her in concern. "I'll be fine, D- Ira. I need to be in Ipswich anyway. I might as well kill two birds with one stone. And my time here at the Academy as an undergrad was paid for before my mother died. I think she wanted me to come here."

"Alright. Be careful. I know I don't have much right to say that having not been there, but please be careful. You have always been a daughter to me, Willow."

Willow smiled. "I know. I'll see you this weekend. My dorm's all paid for and everything. I'll be ok Ira. You'll see."

Ira nodded and smiled. "I know you will. Good luck, Willow." He told her before driving off.

Willow turned around and took a deep breath. "Here's the first day of the rest of your life, Willow." She smiled sadly to herself. Xander and Buffy didn't like that thought when the heard it at all. She remembered their reactions to the fight and to what Ira had explained afterwards.

---Flashback---

The motley crew that made up the Scoobies sat around the largest table in the library at Sunnydale High with books piled up around them. Buffy and Xander were casually flipping pages, occasionally grimacing at a picture or two, before setting books aside. Books which were then picked up by Willow or Giles, who were tediously searching between each cover for information. Oz sat near Willow, trying to sleep off a bad night of transforming into his furrier form. Finally Xander lost patience and plopped a book down with a sigh, but still it was too silent for his comfort. Desperate for human interaction, he turned to Buffy (who had abandoned her book as well) and told her about the rest of the night. "You should have seen it Buff. Wills here was awesome she was floating in the air and her eyes were pitch black- just like when-"

"Xander. We're trying to find out what killed Sh-her, not talk about what I did." Willow interrupted him impatiently, sending a pointed look along with the interruption. Xander didn't catch the look.

"Wills… I know you never liked your mom…. But why did you just almost call her Sheila?"

Willow tensed and then sighed; knowing Xander would see though any lie she tried to say. "Sheila isn't- wasn't- my mother, Xander…"

"What?!" came the reply from around the table, startling Oz awake.

Willow took a deep breath. "My mother's name was Sarah Zenith. She was a witch, of sorts, from New England. For some reason, she came here, to Sunnydale. Sheila and Ira were her best friends here. They took me in when she died fighting a Frae'dyc Highe."

"And just when did you find all this out?" Buffy demanded, earning her a sharp look from Giles.

"Buffy, I really don't think now is the time to-"

"No, Giles, its ok. Ira told me all this last night. Before Sheila died she told me of a prophesy that was told about the daughter of Gaia and the sons of Ipswich. Then she said to ask Ira and willed her power to me."

"Willed? Willow, how can someone will their power to you?" Oz asked her slowly.

"They are a different type of witch and warlock. Instead of pulling the power from the earth around them as Wicca's do, they pull power from inside themselves. It's powerful, but it uses up life energy and is very addictive. Users have been known to waste away and die before the age of 25 looking like 80 or 90. When a person wills their power to you, they will their whole life-force. Its taboo among users of that type of magic because it essentially kills off the person who does the willing."

"Willow, if you have this power now….will you…."

"No, Oz. I'm a special case. See there's a way to bind the power to a place of great power. Thus instead of pulling from myself, I pull from Earth. That's why it mentions the Daughter of Gaia- the Daughter of the Earth.

"The prophesy says that I will meet the Sons of Ipswich. Specifically- 'When the Sons of Ipswich meet the Daughter of Gaia, a new covenant shall be formed and the world shall again be saved.' Ira said there was more to it, but it had been lost and only resided in the Book which is protected by the Sons of The Creators."

"Whoa Will! Back up! There's a book about all of this?" Xander yelled.

"Xander, do quiet yourself. I have heard of this book. Simply called Coven, it tells the details of the Witch Burnings of Salem as well as the Deaths of Innocents and Fortellings of Descendants." Giles informed the group. He looked however as if his mind was elsewhere rather than with the group in the library. As Willow turned back to the others he rose and moved to the back room.

"Exactly. Ira told me that if I find this book, I can find the rest of the prophesy. He knows that it goes on to tell what big bad the world will be need to be saved from… but the problem is finding it- and these Sons of Ipswich."

"Does that mean you're going to leave, Wills?"

Willow looked at her best friend sadly. "Eventually… yes."

"But you can't leave, Willow!" Buffy burst out. "Who's going to make with the mojo? I need your help here, Willow. You can't leave!"

"Buffy, I have to. If I don't find the Sons of Ipswich, then I can't help them."

"But why can't they come find you?"

"Because they don't know she exists." A newcomer stated from the doorway. He was slightly taller than Xander and had shaggy black hair and storm grey-blue eyes. "The Sons were never told of the prophesy and would never go looking for it. If Sarah was right in her guess that they have the Book, it would probably not revel the prophesy to them until the right time anyway." The man said as he walked into the room. When Buffy opened her mouth to protest the man's intrusion, he interrupted her. "I'm sorry. I know most of you don't know me. My name is Ira Rosenberg. I am Willow's adopted father."

Silence coated the library until Buffy turned to look at Willow. "Promise me you won't leave until after Graduation… I don't think I could handle the mayor by myself…"

Willow smiled and rose, moving toward Buffy. "I promise I'll see this through before I even think about leaving you. Any of you." The two best friends embraced each other in reassurance. When Willow pulled away, Xander said, "Now, who's up for a break to discuss the game plan?"

----End Flashback----

---Headmaster's Office----

"Well Miss Rosen-"

"Zenith."

"Excuse me?"

"I prefer to go by my birth name- Zenith. The Rosenbergs agree that it would honor my mother's memory."

"Well then, Miss. Zenith. It looks as though everything's in order. We can meet at a later time to discuss the state of your funds here at the Academy, but you have been paid in full for several years. I am asking a student to come and show you around. He is one of our best- if a little wild. I do hope he will help you feel right at home here in New England."

"Thank you Headmaster. You have been very kind and helpful, but I'm sure that I could-"Here willow was interrupted by a series of sharp raps on the door of the Headmasters office. Al most immediately after the Headmaster called for the intruder to enter, a tall young man with brown hair that rested just below his shoulders and a roguish tan on his handsome face walked into the room.

"You sent for me, Headmaster?"

"Ah yes… Mr. Parry. This is Miss. Ros- sorry, Miss Zenith. She is new to the school and the area. I leave it to you to show her around and keep her out of trouble here on campus."

"Yes sir. May I ask you a question?" the man asked, looking slightly uncomfortable.

The headmaster conceded, "Go ahead."

"Why not ask Caleb to do this? He is much better when it comes to orientations than I am." The man pleaded.

"Because Mr. Danvers has quite enough on his place with his father's recent death and his responsibilities on the student council. I trust that you are quite capable to escort Miss Zenith around the campus for a few days." Willow could have sworn there was a hidden message somewhere in that little explanation, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure it out. The man, however, had apparently understood the message because he turned to her and held out his hand.

"My name's Pogue. I guess I'll be the one showing you around."

Willow eagerly reached out to grab his hand, sending a small diagnostic spell along the way as she did so. After sensing no ill will from him, she introduced herself as well. "Willow Rosenberg Zenith. Sorry to be so much of a trouble for you."

"It's no trouble at all." Pogue told her as he helped her gather her papers. As the two turned to leave the office, Pogue turned back to the headmaster. "Good day to you Headmaster."

As the door closed behind them, Willow turned to Pogue. "So is there any place to hang out around here? We had a club back home- The Bronze. I was hoping there was someplace here like that cuz I would really like to go to, you know, just hang and…sorry. I'm a little nervous. I tend to babble when I get that way."

Pogue laughed. "That's alright. We have a place in town that my friends Caleb, Tyler, Reid and I go to sometimes. It's a bar called Nicky's. Most people don't like it but we think it's a great place to hang out. In fact we were going to head there this evening if you would like to go to.


End file.
